enough to persuade you, I trust, to depart from evil, and to pursue good, to think soberly, and to live virtuously.

PRAYER.

GREAT and ever blessed God; Thou art the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the one only living and true God, the Father of light, and the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Thou art the only proper object of our trust and confidence; for Thou knowest our frame, Thou art acquainted with all our wants, Thy tender mercies are over all thy works, and Thou withholdest nothing that is truly needful from those who love and serve Thee. By Thy power we were created; and by Thy providential care we have been, from the first moment of our existence preserved and blessed. To Thee we are indebted for numberless comforts which respect the life that now is; and on Thee we wait for the accomplishment of the most glorious expectations in an everlasting life to come. We are accountable to Thee for the proper use of every blessing we enjoy, and for the faithful improvement of every talent entrusted to us. Give us grace, we beseech Thee, so to order all our conversation, that we may please Thee; since in Thy favor is our life, and Thy loving kindness is better than life itself. May our temper and our conduct, in every instance and on all occasions, be such as shall become our reasonable nature, and our Christian profession; that we may enjoy the approbation of our own minds, and have a well-grounded confidence in Thee,

our holy, omniscient, and impartial Judge. May Thy goodness lead us to a sincere and effectual repentance of all our past failings and transgressions, and engage us to walk for the future with the most vigilant circumspection; that no allurement may seduce us from the path of duty, and no temptation prevail upon us to act contrary to Thy holy will. May our hearts be always directed to keep Thy statutes, that it may be well with us both now and evermore.

Heavenly Father, we implore Thy blessing on those who are preparing to enter upon a world of temptation and danger. Give to the young that wisdom which is from above, that they may be able to discern between the things that differ, and to choose, in every case, the thing which is right. May they take fast hold of instruction, and not let her go; may they keep her, knowing that she is their life. May they incline their ear to wisdom, and apply their heart to understanding, that they may fear Thee and depart from evil. Preserve them from that pride which goeth before destruction; from that haughty spirit which precedeth a fall. Guard them from that confidence in their own wisdom, and that contempt of the judgment of those who have seen many days, which are as unamiable as they are dangerous; and endow them with that meek and teachable disposition, which will conciliate the esteem of those with whom they converse, and prepare them to receive with gratitude, and to apply with faithfulness and success, the counsels of those who love them as their own souls, and are anxious to promote their future and everlasting felicity. May they patiently listen to admonition and reproof; and make no delay in

acknowledging and forsaking their errors and their faults. May they carefully attend to those lessons of wisdom, which in the course of Thy providence and moral government Thou dost graciously impart to Thy rational creatures. No one teacheth like Thee, O God. In all Thy dealings towards us Thou affordest the most satisfactory evidence that Thou art the righteous Lord, who lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity. Clouds and darkness are indeed sometimes round about Thee, and Thy judgments are often inscrutable to us the children of men. Yet we see enough to convince us that there is no true and lasting peace to the wicked, and that it is well with those who fear Thee. May we, then, submit ourselves to the guidance of Thy unerring counsels; may none of the deceitful pleasures of sin seduce us into evil: may we be established in the steady government of our hearts and lives; and may our views of the certainty, the importance and the value of the recompense Thou hast prepared to persevering virtue, be so lively and affecting, that we may never grow weary of doing well. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us unblameable before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God only wise, be glory forever. Amen.

SERMON XXXI.

PART II.

ADMONITIONS TO THE YOUNG.

Prov. iv. 13.

"TAKE FAST HOLD OF INSTRUCTION, LET HER NOT GO, KEEP HER, FOR SHE IS THY LIFE."

In a former discourse, I pointed out to my young hearers, two important sources of instruction, to which every youth who is desirous of true wisdom and substantial happiness will seriously and carefully apply; and I urged them, as they valued their present peace and their future welfare, assiduously and gratefully to avail themselves of these means of virtue, of true honor, and of real felicity. These sources are, 1st. The instructions and admonitions of such as have more years and experience than themselves: and, 2dly. The providence of God. I now go on to recommend to them another and most important means of instruction, which the youth who is wise, and who is desirous of becoming wiser, will diligently and faithfully employ; and that is,

66

"Wherewith," says the Psalmist, "shall a young man cleanse his way?" How shall one, who is inexperienced in life, learn to keep himself unpolluted by vice, and to maintain such a course of conduct as shall be pure and acceptable in the sight of a holy God? By taking heed according to thy Word." By habitually attending to those Scriptures of divine truth, "which are able to make him wise unto salvation." No one who is seriously concerned about his good conduct, can neglect the counsels of unerring wisdom. No one who wishes and intends to attain the end of his creation, can be inattentive to the instructions of his Maker; who knows his frame; who assigns to him his station; who prescribes his duty; and will hereafter determine his everlasting condition. If it be the wisdom of every man, and especially of the young man, to desire, to hear, and to respect the counsel of human friends, can he be free from the charge of folly, who, having in his hand the counsels of Him from whom all counsel cometh, sets no value on them, and makes no use of them? If it be our wisdom, as we have seen it is, to listen to the suggestions of nature and providence, is it less our wisdom to listen to the sacred oracles of God? It is the same kind friend, the same infallible adviser, that addresses himself to us by all these means. It is he who speaks to us by the voice of nature and providence, that speaks to us in the Gospel of Christ. It can be no evidence of wisdom, in a scene in which we stand in need of every assistance to maintain our virtue and to insure a happy issue of our trial, to despise the teaching of him who sent us into it. At an age also, when every possible assistance is peculiarly